THE TANAGLIA LACTANTIUS
MS | 1369 |
MS Short Title |
THE TANAGLIA LACTANTIUS |
Text |
LUCIUS CAELIUS LACTANTIUS: DIVINARUM INSTITUTIONUM ADVERSUS GENTES |
Description |
MS in Latin and Greek on vellum, Firenze, Italy, ca. 1420-30, 125 ff. (-1), 32x23 cm, single column, (23x14 cm) 32-33 lines in a very fine early humanistic book script and Greek minuscule by Guglielmino Tanaglia, possibly Niccolo Niccoli and an unidentified scribe, 3 small illuminated initials, 6 very large illuminated white-vine initials and including 3/4 border on title leaf with a leopard, birds and butterflies by Filippo di Matteo Torelli. |
Binding |
Firenze, Italy, ca. 1430, blind-stamped goatskin over wooden boards, sewn on 5 double thongs. |
Context |
The missing leaf, f. 77, illuminated, with text and notes by Tanaglia, illustrated in Zisska & Kistner, München, 20.5.1996:537, now in the Stephen Cooper collection, Dorset. |
Provenance |
1. Guglielmino Tanaglia, Firenze (ca. 1425-1460); 2. Vespasiano da Bisticci, (1460-1468); 3. Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), A Catalogue of the Manuscripts at Ashburnham Place, 1853, Appendix :76; 4. Henry Yates Thompson, London (1897- 1900/1910); 5. George Dunn, Woolley Hall, Maidenhead (ca. 1900/1910-1913); 6. Sotheby's 11.2.1913:552; 7. Victor von Klemperer, Dresden (1913-1942) and his descendants (1942-1991); 8. Sotheby's 18.6.1991:80. |
Commentary |
Written for and mostly by Guglielmino Tanaglia (1391-1460), protohumanist, scholar and friend of Giovanni F. Poggio and Niccolo Niccoli. He was writing humanistic script as early as 1410. This is by far his most substantial extant MS. Lucius Caelius Lactantius (245-315) stands half way between the classics and the church fathers. His main work is the summa of Christian thought, demonstrating the falsehood of pagan religion, setting forth the true doctrine and worship. It is dedicated to emperor Constantine the Great and is a primary text for the history of Neoplatonism. Besides patristic and biblical sources, 68 different classical authors are quoted. |
Exhibited |
1. Conference of European National Librarians, Oslo. Sept. 1994. 2. The Bibliophile Society of Norway's 75th anniversary. Bibliofilklubben 75 år. Jubileumsutstilling Bok og Samler, Universitetsbliblioteket 27.2 - 26.4.1997 |
Place of origin | Italy |
Dates | ca 1420 - 1430 AD |